Called a silly cow and hung up on

[roselover11]

What the hell do I do ?!

I claim working tax and housing benefits
I've just started a job 3 wks ago which seemed great
Lovely boss
Good money
Part time fitting around my little one
Today I was asked to book some meetings for her and I to attend to
So I did...one email just came through so as it's after hours ( I finished at 3) I called her
She sounded fuming saying don't i know London ? I'm not from London and I did use maps but the client I arranged to see I shouldn't have done
Even though she asked me to call him

The company has just started and is disorganised so I'm trying my best as there's no direction
Anyway she told me I must sort this tonight and call the client and email another client etc I said I can't really as I'm a single mum I'm just collecting my lo, doing her dinner, bath etc
Which she said she was ok with
She then asked me a few more times so I said can I have some direction and go through with it tomorrow
I tried my best to stay calm even though she was shouting calling me a silly cow so it was hard not to react! She then said ' sort your kid out and I'll do it then ' and hung up
I'm so upset
I feel I can't go in tomorrow
But I have to
I can't afford to just leave a job as I know I won't get my benefits
But I'm so angry and upset I just don't know what to do ?
Thanks for reading xx

You were both upset. You're boss really should take the responsibility for giving you guidance and an introduction. Just keep your calm and see what happens. If it gets tough you could always say -I'd really appreciate if I could get a second chance at this since I'm quite new at this, and I'll try to learn the ropes and get on top of things quickly (or something to that effect). Try not to take it personally.

^Your... not you're...

Ok,
Firstly - what was the issue? Have you booked the meeting in the incorrect place? Is it too far across London to get to in time?
Secondly - what is the company set up? Is it just you and her? Is there a HR dept?
Thirdly - even if you thought you were helping you should have left the email until tomorrow. It's not your working hours, don't check work emails outside of that time. Have your out of office set to forward anything to your boss out of your working hours. From experience, rightly or wrongly, if you pick something up out of your hours people then expect you to deal with it.

However, all of that said if my boss called me names I would be documenting it and reporting a grievance to HR. Totally unprofessional.

The issue was that she gave me a number of leads to call. But I have no background on wether they have the product already or if they expressed an interest at some point.
I went for an admin role and day one she changed my job title to field sales which I was looking forward to. However when I did my signature she told me to put my personal mobile number on it and wrongly or rightly she also told me to set up my work emails to my phone so she does expect me to work outside the office. To be honest I didn't really mind this. But todays issue I didn't really feel was my error.
There have been a number of times where I've told her clients have been unhappy so she said the best thing to do is go see them and once I made an app to go see a client and she said I shouldn't have bothered with that one?! She then made me a 'bitch and bastards ' file for horrible clients and told me to ignore them. It's her company, there's no hr just her and 4 others, that's it.
She's a bit out there and she does shout and sweat and goes off on one but also she is pretty cool
I don't think that today but so far I've really liked her.
So the issue was although she told me to call him and see this person she then back tracked
She's a very busy women has all her knowledge in her head and I find it hard to get clear direction from her
Without thinking I'm not using my own initiative when I know I am
If I made an error I would own up apologise and ask for another chance but it's not like that.
We confirmed my hours and she was fine with them
I'm very organised and I have to book childcare for my lo so I have to be
She then always ask when I'm in and wat days ? She called me Sunday asking me to respond to an email but I hadn't checked my emails - she did say sorry for ringing on a Sunday
I would over look all that as I really do not mind but it's just today's call took me by surprise

To clarify the issue with the appointment was I had 4 or 5 apps to make and the one who confirmed was on the outskirts ( so not possible by train, better to drive basically) BUT my point was that NOONE else confirmed ?! So the ONE person that did, I asked if we could see him? So I didn't see the problem.

Plus also I went for a admin job
She knows I have no exp so she should give me a little allowance
To be fair I've had no introduction no training I'm just left in a office alone to sort through old paperwork with names and telephone numbers in it with no further information
Again a little in organised but I was seeing it as a challenge as I love to organise

She has no right to call you names like that. Who is in charge of the company?

I thought the same
She is - she's the owner

Working for the owner has its own little challenges.

Why are you reading emails after hours? Surely it could have waited until you were in the office and could look at the diary? Best not to blur boundaries.

That's one of the little joys of working for owners. There is no 'off'. When will I ever learn...?

Don't understand a word of this

Because she asked me to keep an eye on emails as they are my customers so to speak

I can't complain from that part as I agreed to it
So learning curve for me

Why ? Am I being unclear ? X

I've never had to do it before but as I say I didn't really mind
As I say she is a very out there person
And quite different and I've never met anyone like her
Quote risky working for a smaller company but as I say I went for the interview and liked her and the job description

I understand you're upset. Your boss shouldn't have lost her temper or spoken to you like that.

However, it's not clear from your posts what the mistake was or even what your job spec is?

My advice would be to ask for 5 minutes with her when your'e next in and tell her your concerns. It would be far better to check with her in future if her instructions are unclear. Tell her you need more direction until you have found your feet in the role.

You do say that you're expected to do some work out of hours though so I assume you've agreed to that. Make clear when you are available out of hours and stick to it.

At first I thought it was unclear rose but I think you've clarified now.

I've not had any experience of working for just the boss like this so I can't help. My instinct was to go to HR or induction manager but obvs they aren't there. There's less regulation ao it seems. It also explains the pressure to work out of hours...

I guess it depends whether you feel it's worth sticking it out or not. From what you've described I wouldn't but I know that's easy for me to say when it's not my life.
Good luck whichever way you decide!

If you do have to make appointments for her which cover a large area, you do need to look carefully at maps, Google the travel distances and times and consider the logistics of getting across London for example.

She should have explained all this to you but it does sound as though she's expecting a lot from you and has dumped far more work and responsibility on you than the "Admin" role she advertised.

Sorry for the confusion I've summarised

Yeah I do get the route planning
I've never done it before but I don't get why she was angry that I made an app with a client she asked me to call? Makes no sense

Went for admin assistant
She asked if I wanna do field sales rep

I never agreed to working out of hours
She just expects me to deal with emails and keep notifications on as some clients are pin restaurants etc
This wasn't made clear and only a few days in when she got me to down load the app to my phone for the emails

Is it a newish business?
I'd keep applying for jobs if I were you.

This is exactly why I went from a small company working directly for the owner to a big multi national. The problem is the company is their life and they expect it to be yours as well. I would seriously start looking for alternative employment.

Remove your personal number from your email signature. If she wants people to be able to contact you, She will provide you with a phone

How horrible for you when you've just started. Calling you a silly cow is awful and unprofessional. I second other people saying look out for something new. This would be seriously frowned on in a larger company that had standards of conduct.

she asked me to set up emails to my phone..to be honest I don't mind this

The expectations of your role are extremely blurred and I predict she'll become more demanding with very little patience for any errors. Already, your work load has increased, she's contacting you out of hours and I'm willing to bet that your pay doesn't reflect this. She maybe difficult about you having time off (inevitable with a little one) and has already shown she has little respect for you.

I agree with others; start looking for other jobs.

Thanks peeps

Appreciate all the advice xxxx